But a state social services expert said there's still a long way to go for the DCF to meet the needs of abused and neglected Connecticut children.

"It is encouraging to see others from outside Connecticut validate the impressive improvements that are underway," Malloy said in a statement after receiving a letter from a division within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "The department's staff has been making important strides in building new relationships with families and communities, and the results reflect it."

The DHHS unit is called the Division of Children and Families, which assesses child welfare in every state. The report on Connecticut's review was issued in March 2009 and identified outcomes and systemic factors that put the state out of compliance, and called for a plan to make improvements.

The recent letter means the DCF met the requirement that an improvement plan be implemented.

"What's important is that we took what we learned from the federal report and instituted an improvement plan," said DCF spokesman Gary Kleeblatt, noting that family-centered and strength-based protocols have been instituted under Commissioner Joette Katz, of Fairfield, a former state Supreme Court judge who took over the troubled department in early 2011.

Katz's program has resulted in a reduction of 875 children in state care, an 18 percent drop from when she was appointed by Malloy. There are also fewer children in group homes, and nearly 90 percent fewer placed in out-of-state care because more are living with a relative or family friends.

"The DCF staff is making important improvements through their commitment to family-centered reforms, and they deserve full credit," Katz said in a statement Friday. "The federal government's recognition of the advances only confirms the good results that come when you build on family strengths and gain family participation in all our work."

But Ron Cretaro, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Non-Profits, whose members provide services under DCF contracts, said Friday morning that the new federal response in no way takes the state out from under the 1991 settlement on inadequate child protective services now called Juan F. versus Malloy.

"This is not to be confused with the consent decree in the Juan F. court case for which the court monitor oversees," Cretaro said. "In 2008 and 2009, the federal children's review found DCF wanting and gave them time to get their house in order. It seems they are now up to snuff in those areas."

On Oct. 9, Raymond Mancuso, the federal court monitor for the Juan F. case, issued a quarterly report indicating that while the DCF has made improvements that are "heartening," the DCF system is "stressed" because of limited resources and higher expectations for staff.

"Front-line staffing levels are inadequate," Mancuso wrote.

Katz acknowledged that much more work remains, but there are additional indications that improvements are taking hold.

Under the Juan F. exit plan, the DCF has to meet the needs of children across nearly a dozen different issues. Katz pointed out that the monitor's recent report gives the DCF its highest grade since the exit plan was created in 2004.